[EDITORIALS]A necessary review

The basic government system is shaking. While each ministry has jurisdiction over its own area, various national projects are promoted by powerful organizations within the government, and there is no monitoring system to check them.
It was revealed that a former senior presidential secretary for personnel affairs intervened in a development project for the southwest coastal area, which includes the controversial Haengdam island resort development, on the orders of President Roh Moo-hyun. The Blue House says the presidential secretary was given the job because he knew the region and hailed from the Jeolla provinces. Even if we accept that explanation, the way it handled the project has damaged its cause. In particular, the fact that the duty of promoting the project was not assigned to the construction minister but to the presidential secretary lets people speculate that it was promoted for political purposes.
The prime minister belatedly ordered an examination of large-scale government projects. As part of it, the function and power of various government committees, including the Presidential Committee on the Northeast Asian Cooperation Initiative, which is in question, should be reviewed.